Cherry growing has been in the Gaudion Family for the past three generations, starting with Stanley Victor Gaudion who began growing cherries in the Yarra Valley. His son Barry Gaudion took over the running of these orchards and then his sons Jon and Adam expanded into the Berrigan and Hillston regions. Although cherries are traditionally grown in the southern climates, the Gaudions expanded to Hillston to seek a warmer environment which in return resulted in an earlier supply of cherries to the Australian market. Jon and Adam travelled extensively overseas to source suitable varieties to grow in the hot climate. In doing so, they have the exclusive rights to the Marvin Neis varieties which include Early Garnet, Garnet, Gaint Ruby and Late Garnet.
Since expanding to different locations 10 years ago, Cherry King have established 600 acres of cherries in Hillston and a major planting of 100 acres in Berrigan. Cherry King has also developed more orchards in the cooler areas of Alexandra, priding themselves on quality for christmas markets. This helps in providing in excess of 1000 acres of cherries between Cherry King’s growing regions and an extended 3 month supply to customers. Our season runs from late October to November in Hillston, Mid November to Mid December in Berrigan and December to late January in Alexandra.
In 2003 Cherry King built a state of the art packing shed in Griffith. Therefore, moving the packing process from Alexandra to Griffith, which is centrally located to all of the major capital cities, our customers and our cherry farms.
